


The Boggart

by GirlWithaPearlEarring



Series: Slytherin Ginny [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotionally Repressed, Even Ginny buys into it from time to time, F/M, Gen, Ginny Weasley & Ron Weasley are Twins, Hurt/Comfort, Slytherin Ginny Weasley, Slytherins Being Slytherins, They're not even to Unresolved Sexual Tension yet, Unresolved Emotional Tension, the lot of them, the slowest of burns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:40:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24797818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GirlWithaPearlEarring/pseuds/GirlWithaPearlEarring
Summary: [Warning: features an AU in which Ginny and Ron Weasley are twins and Ginny is in Slytherin.]Ginny's boggart comes as a bit of surprise to her...and her classmates.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Ginny Weasley, Pre-Relationship - Relationship
Series: Slytherin Ginny [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/757377
Comments: 21
Kudos: 90





	The Boggart

Ginny really should have seen this coming, especially after her initial reaction to the Dementors. But that was what she’d gotten caught up on, hadn’t she? The Dementors and their horrible scabby hands and chill gloom that swept her up whenever she got closer than ten feet from them. Honestly she’d thought having the boggart trip and fall on its backside would’ve been quite rewarding, not to mention hilarious, but here she was facing down not a Dementor at all, but Tom Riddle. After all, it wasn’t the Dementors themselves she dreaded, she realized. It was hearing that voice in her head again, a voice she’d once treasured then grown to revile.

Even through her shock and horror, she sensed the change in atmosphere around her. Where moments ago her classmates and even Professor Lupin had been laughing light-heartedly, there was a kind of hush filled with something she couldn’t name. She only hoped it wasn’t curiosity; rumors were the absolute last thing she needed right now.

“Why, Ginny, what’s wrong?” asked boggart Tom. He began walking smoothly toward her, smiling charmingly.

“Ri-” she started, but despite herself she could feel her knees shaking, her breath stuttering beyond her control. “Riddi-”

She couldn’t do it. Tom was reaching into his robes now, a malicious gleam in his handsome eyes, bearing down upon her.

“Just close your eyes, girl,” he murmured. “It’ll all be over soon.”

But no. She was stronger now, more capable than she’d been a year ago, not the helpless, stupid little girl who’d trusted an unseen voice who claimed to be her friend. 

She raised her wand higher. “Riddiku-”

But as she spoke, Tom raised his wand high with a movement like a whip and Ginny stumbled and fell back.

“Ginny!” she heard behind her before she was caught by two sets of hands. Daphne and Pansy, she saw, both girls staring at her in shock.

At the same time she heard Professor Lupin shout, “Riddikulus!” accompanied by another _crack_ and then, “Miss Bulstrode, if you would!”

Millicent came hurrying forward to face the boggart. Ginny hurriedly righted herself, muttering, “I’m fine, really,” though she knew her classmates weren’t buying it.

Professor Lupin sidled quickly to her, concern etching his already drawn face. “Ginny, if you’d like to take a moment in the corridor,” he began then cut himself off when Ginny violently shook her head, furious with herself.

“Really, I’m fine, Professor,” she said. “I’d like another go, if you don’t mind.”

Professor Lupin looked like he had great reservations about this, but tactfully replied, “Certainly, though it will have to be in a future class. Our time is almost up for the day.”

“I’ll take her, Professor,” said Daphne. She took Ginny by the arm and attempted to steer her through the door. When Ginny resisted and opened her mouth to tell her off, she hissed in her ear, “Just admit for once you might need help, Weasley. Now come on!”

Ginny looked to Professor Lupin, but he was already facing away, encouraging Goyle’s feeble attempt to make a large, shaggy dog less frightening. Admitting defeat, Ginny tugged her arm from Daphne’s grasp and went into the corridor, ignoring Pansy’s face turned resolutely away and Malfoy’s wide-eyed appraisal.

“Who is he?” Daphne asked immediately. She had on the no-nonsense expression she sometimes wore when dealing with Crabbe and Goyle’s idiocy: flat and unsympathetic. Ginny turned away, scoffing.

“Why do you care?” she asked, which wasn’t fair in the slightest. It was true that some of her Slytherin friends had been particularly insufferable this year, but Daphne was not in that number and despite her demeanor most likely did want to help.

“Should I?” Daphne returned coolly.

Ginny sighed and slumped down to sit against the wall by the door. Daphne moved to stand next to her. It almost seemed she was straightening her posture even more than usual to unconsciously correct Ginny’s own.

“I didn’t recognize him,” she said. “Is he a seventh year?”

Ginny considered this. “I don’t know,” she said truthfully. 

Daphne looked at her sharply. “So he _does_ go here.”

“Did,” corrected Ginny. “But it doesn’t matter. He-”

“If you’re having a problem with an upperclassman, you need to speak to Snape,” Daphne interrupted. “Especially if he’s pressuring you to-”

“It’s handled,” said Ginny shortly. “He doesn’t even go to Hogwarts anymore.”

When Daphne did nothing but stare flatly at her, Ginny rubbed her face, hiding her expression. “Dumbledore knows. Are you happy?”

“Not particularly.”

Ginny said nothing but continued to sit with her head against her knees. She knew her silence was more telling than anything she might say, but for the moment she was exhausted and didn’t care to hide it.

Daphne sighed and when she next spoke, her voice was much softer. “Ginny, it doesn’t matter what happened or didn’t happen now. But you’d better be ready for the whole school to know about this by dinnertime.”

* * *

Ginny knew Daphne was right, but knowing ahead of time didn’t help fend off the curious stares she could feel directed at her from almost every table throughout dinner. She was still feeling a residual combination of embarrassment and shame from her conversation with Professor Lupin and her repeated assurances that Tom was no longer a threat, though she knew for a fact he was still going to speak to Dumbledore. She’d chosen to sit facing the wall between Zabini and Nott who - for various reasons - she knew wouldn’t question her, but she could still see inquisitive faces turning her direction all down the Slytherin table. Her only saving grace at the moment was that her brothers either didn’t know or didn’t feel like bringing it up to her yet. Though, knowing Ron, that was only a matter of time.

Zabini suddenly nudged her. “Coming your way,” he murmured, barely moving his lips.

She casually glanced up the table and noticed Bletchley detach himself from where he’d been sitting with various Quidditch team members and walk determinedly in her direction. She cursed quietly and slung her bag quickly over her shoulder before sliding as carelessly as she could off the bench.

“Good luck,” Nott said out of the corner of his mouth, never moving his eyes from his plate. She nodded almost imperceptibly and moved quickly away, passing through a group of latecomers to throw off her pursuer.

* * *

It was only after an hour had passed and no one had found her hiding place - a dusty corner in the library - that Ginny began to relax and really focus on her Potions essay. Of course, this was the moment that Malfoy decided to clear his throat almost directly behind her.

She flinched but finished writing her sentence before calmly packing her things and moving to leave. She could just as easily - and much more comfortably - finish her assignment in her own dormitory.

“Seriously?” Malfoy asked incredulously. “You’re not even going to ask?” When she turned, he looked exactly as outraged as she expected, though she was somewhat relieved to see he’d left that ridiculous sling off his arm. She raised a provocative eyebrow at him and turned to leave.

“For Merlin’s sake, Weasley,” he hissed, following her like an angry cat. “If a prefect, a _Slytherin_ prefect, actually assaulted you, you can’t expect-”

She turned abruptly and gripped him by the front of his robe before shoving him into an aisle, effectively cutting him off. She followed until he was backed against a bookcase, pushing her face close to his with a snarl.

“ _Leave it, Malfoy._ ”

His eyes were very wide, but he still grabbed her as she tried to disengage, locking them into an awkward stand-off, their hands entangled near his throat. 

“Look,” he began stiffly. “Weasley…” A look that was horrifyingly close to pity touched his face and Ginny felt a wave of revolted shame. As he opened his mouth to speak again, she shoved her elbow into his gut and twisted her hand until she heard his wrist pop before thrusting herself away without a backward glance. She heard him curse behind her before quickly following, but she ignored him, feeling guilty for no reason at all.

She made it to the corridor before being accosted again, though this time by Millicent, who was hurrying from the opposite direction. Nott was trailing anxiously behind her.

“I tried to stop her,” he said apologetically but Millicent glared at him and he shut up.

“Weasley, we’re just trying to help you,” Millicent said gruffly. She was sporting her typical glare, but Ginny thought the other girl looked worried in her own way. 

Ginny couldn’t help feeling suddenly cornered. Daphne’s fixed gaze darted through her mind followed by Lupin’s deep concern and Malfoy’s unusually pinched expression. Zabini and Nott’s silence and Bletchley’s determined pursuit. It was abruptly more than she could handle.

“Did it ever occur to you,” she asked, trying to control her volume, but it shot past her control and before she knew it she was screaming, “That constantly asking me about it might make a bad situation _even worse_? That being asked ‘Are you alright?’ over and over might end up making me want to bash my bloody brain in rather than answer?”

Nott winced and she saw Malfoy look past her in alarm before she heard a familiar voice farther down the corridor shout, “Oi! Weasley!”

“Really?” she yelled back, wheeling to face an irritated Marcus Flint. “Whatever it is, Flint, save it!”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw several Hufflepuff second years frozen in the act of checking out books and an older Ravenclaw eyeing her beadily from a table while Madam Pince herself came hurrying furiously toward them.

Completely ignoring her, Flint stopped in front of her and roared back, “If you’ve got a problem with a prefect, what the hell are you doing knuckling under? If you think I’m going to keep a pushover on the team, then-”

“Mister Flint!” hissed the irate librarian, bearing down on them like a malevolent hawk. “Kindly remove yourself from the premises! I have half a mind to report you and your cohorts to the Headmaster!”

“We’re not even inside, you old bag!” Flint snarled in her face without missing a beat.

Madam Pince swelled indignantly before Nott rushed over and tried to usher them all away, murmuring deferentially, “We’re really sorry, Madam, won’t happen again! We were just leaving, right?” 

He directed this last question particularly at Ginny who, sensing defeat, sighed and muttered, “Right,” before allowing herself to be shunted away.

* * *

She finally managed to shake them all off after being cornered in an empty classroom and explaining much the same thing she’d said to Daphne and Lupin earlier: the situation was handled, Dumbledore knew, and besides, Tom didn’t even go to the school anymore.

Flint was easily satisfied, stumping off with another grumbled threat. Ginny half-suspected Pucey had coerced him into checking up on her, though she doubted Flint knew that. The other three were not as easily gotten rid of, but after a quick non-verbal exchange with Nott, he managed to steer the conversation harmlessly enough and eventually usher them away.

She had a brief moment of respite before exiting the classroom and realizing Malfoy was slouching against a wall nearby, clearly waiting for her to emerge. Glancing at his determined face, she suddenly wanted to be anywhere but here.

“What, Malfoy?” she asked tiredly, not even bothering to hide her expression. “Didn’t you get enough information already? Or are you just looking to take the mic?”

He frowned uncertainly but otherwise didn’t react, squinting at her in the darkened hall.

“ _What?_ ” she asked, hearing the strain in her voice and simply not caring. The events of the day were still catching up to her and all she wanted was to curl into a ball beneath her blankets and think of nothing at all.

He came to stand in front of her. “Weasley, I…” He trailed off, his determined look changing, though she couldn’t define the new expression she saw. It was...soft, somehow. She’d never seen it on his face before.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with,” he swallowed awkwardly. “With last year, does it?”

She winced before she could help it, the question surprising it out of her. His eyes widened in response, the soft look intensifying. “Because if it does-”

Ginny had had enough. Reliving the stupidest thing she’d ever done once was bad enough, but having it shoved in her face with...what was this? Mockery? Pity? That was more than she could handle.

She turned, storming away from Malfoy and his ridiculous face, ignoring the uncomfortable knot in her stomach as best she could.

**Author's Note:**

> \- This entire fic was inspired by the fact that Ginny’s boggart is most likely Tom Riddle and I will never pass up an opportunity to write about his ridiculous, dramatic self. I can also imagine how horrible that experience must have been in canon - can we just take a moment to imagine how Lupin (or possibly Crouch Jr., depending on the curriculum) and Ginny’s classmates would’ve viewed an older Slytherin student being the boggart of a second year Gryffindor? Yikes.
> 
> \- This takes place pretty early on in their third year so by this point all that’s really happened is Quidditch tryouts and Malfoy getting his arm “hurt” by Buckbeak (and milking that for all its worth). 
> 
> \- In the books, we only get to see Harry’s class experience the boggart lesson, which occurred in the staffroom with only Gryffindors so we can expect that the same location happened with only Slytherins, which would be why Ron (and the rest) weren’t in the room when Ginny faced the boggart.
> 
> \- Finally, I’m not sure how well this comes across in the fic, but how I interpret Slytherins and their interactions is that although they definitely care about their friends, etc. most of them cover that up by acting aloof or otherwise emotionally unavailable because they’ve been told and shown from birth that emotional connections will get you hurt. So Daphne, Millicent, and even Malfoy and Flint do genuinely care about Ginny (to varying degrees) but also show it in different ways.


End file.
